In Which Candlesticks Are Stolen
by Imitating Licentiousness
Summary: Written for LJ Valentine's Day Challenge. Prompt was romantic dinner. R/K. Pure fluff.


**Author's Note: **Written for the Valentine's Day fic challenge. Prompt was romantic dinner. Um, as a side note, I never watch SG-1. I'm going to get all the DVDs, though, and work my way through it, but for the time being, I'm operating under the assumption that the gate on Earth is at Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, right? If it's not, then just pretend it is, because in the story I was trying to pick things that were around that area.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything.

* * *

John Sheppard lay propped up against some pillows on his bed on a lazy Saturday afternoon, idly plucking away at his guitar strings. He wasn't bored or tired or emotional, just…lethargic. But quickly edging its way to boredom.

Thankfully, someone knocked at the door.

"Come on in." John called, sitting up.

The doors to his quarters slid open and Ronon's tall frame filled the entryway.

"Hey," John said.

"Hey," Ronon replied. "You have a minute?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"I need some advice."

John's eyebrows lifted, although he already had some idea of where this was headed. Ronon wasn't the kind of person who would come for advice unless it was something he truly needed help with.

"What kind of advice?" John gestured toward his easy chair for Ronon to sit.

"Well, uh…" Ronon looked increasingly uncomfortable. "What do you do for women back on your planet when you want…when you're…_interested_ in them?"

The little boy in John wanted to roll over on his ass laughing in glee, but his mature side managed to squash the immature side. "This wouldn't have something to do with the Doc, now would it?"

His response was a Death Glare.

"'Cause, you know, it's cool if it is…she's an attractive woman and all…" Looking at Ronon's stony expression, the self-preservation voice in John's head whispered, _You're digging yourself in deeper, buddy._ "Um, so, okay, Earth Women." He clapped his hands together once and rubbed them together. "Well, uh, you might start off with seeing if she likes you back."

Ronon nodded confidently. "I'm pretty sure she does."

"Well, that's good, then, the first step is covered…second, women love to play hard to get."

"What do you mean?"

"They like to be chased."

"Oh, okay."

"But don't carry it so far that they'll lose interest because they think you're not interested."

"What else?"

"Well, you should ask her out. Do something fun."

Ronon thought for a moment. What exactly qualified as _fun_ here on Atlantis? Not much. He didn't particularly think Jennifer would think taking a jog around the city would be incredibly inciting. Sparring was fun, but he didn't think she'd be overly excited about that, either.

"Fun," Ronon repeated. His brows furrowed as he tried to think of something, _anything_.

John could easily see his predicament. "Yeah, I guess this place is pretty boring. I wonder if maybe I could swing it with Carter to let you guys take a jumper off-world, or maybe head to Earth for one evening, something along those lines…"

Ronon brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks. I'd really appreciate it."

"And then, there's also the idea that you could take her out to dinner. Someplace nice. Not a tavern, but a restaurant. You _do_ know what that is, right?" John stopped for a moment, studying his friend.

Ronon blinked at him incredulously. "We _did_ have restaurants on Sateda."

John shrugged defensively. "Just checking. Anyway, I don't know what your customs were, but you could bring her flow--hey!" His attention caught on the Sports Illustrated wall calendar. "Valentine's Day is next Thursday."

Ronon looked interested. "Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah. Way back on Earth history during Roman times, there was this Emperor, Claudius, and he ordained it the none of the young Roman males could get married, so that they'd have to serve in the army. Well there was this Christian, Valentine, and he helped some couples get married, and then Claudius found out about it. He wasn't too happy, so the story goes that he had Valentine burned at the stake, and we celebrate his memory by remembering Valentine's Day, February 14th, by giving each other candy kisses and hearts and things."

"Hearts?" Ronon almost looked bewildered.

"What? Oh, not like heart, like in your chest, but, uh…" John grabbed a scrap of paper and a pencil from his desk and quickly sketched an almost-symmetrical heart, then showed it to him. "Emotional heart, not anatomical."

"Oh, okay." Ronon nodded in understanding.

"But…I guess that's basically it…for a first date, anyway. I wish there was a movie theater around here, you could take her to go see a chick flick…I don't think many people would have chick flicks here, but if all goes well on your date, then Jennifer would probably have some in her room."

Ronon crossed his arms at the implication. "My intentions toward her are honorable."

"I don't doubt it," John answered. "But, on Earth, generally, if a woman's had a good time on a date, she'll ask you in for coffee, and that usually means she wants a little more than a good-night kiss. Doesn't mean she wants something more than that, though."

Ronon took all this in. "Sounds good."

"But…other than that, I'm fairly sure things aren't entirely different where you're from, so…" John leaned forward and slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "I don't think you'll have any problems. You're good to go. I'll get everything taken care of with Carter, you go ask the girl out."

"Thanks, man."

"Anytime."

* * *

With that having been taken care of, Ronon was up and strolling towards the infirmary. When he came in, Jennifer was sitting at her desk in her office, signing off on patient's charts. The rest of the infirmary was empty, which Ronon was glad for. He sidled up and stood in her doorway. Much as he knew she hated it, he couldn't help standing there and waiting to be noticed. It was always so thrilling to have her look up suddenly, gasp, and then smile when she realized that it was him. They hadn't done a whole lot of talking since what had happened with the quarantine, but there had been definite flirtation since, nothing strong but letting the other person know that they were interested.

Ronon crossed his arms, waiting patiently. He was glad Jennifer generally stayed on Atlantis, because if it were a combat situation, the poor girl had the sense of hearing of a deaf sloth bear. However, woman's intuition finally kicked in, and Jennifer's head sprang up, gasping when she saw him lurking in the door frame.

"Oh--hey!" She smiled warmly at him as though she hadn't seen him in several years.

Ronon couldn't help but smile back. "Hey."

"What's up?"

He shrugged. "The ceiling."

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "That is so lame."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Heard it from McKay the other day." He uncrossed his arms. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Jennifer gestured to one of the comfy chairs that sat in front of her desk.

Ronon sat down, stretching his long legs in front of him. "So, Valentine's Day is next week."

She frowned. "Is it really?" Jennifer fumbled through her desk calendar, looking at the date. "Wow, it is--wait, how'd you know about Valentine's Day?"

"Sheppard mentioned it, and I asked him what it was." He looked down, watched his thumbs twiddle.

Jennifer tried very hard not to make her face look too hopeful or expectant. The last thing he needed to know was how desperately she wanted him to ask her to do something on Valentine's Day, how badly she wanted to not sit alone in her room and watch crummy girl movies by herself with a box of Hershey's in her lap, stuffing herself into a chocolate-covered-cherry oblivion…how much she wished he'd kissed her during the quarantine…

_Confidence_, Ronon thought to himself. "I'd like to celebrate burning St. Valentine at the stake with you."

Jennifer couldn't help the snort that escaped her. Ronon thought she was laughing at him, and almost rose up to leave.

Seeing his discomfort, she stretched out a hand towards him, waving him back into his seat. "Oh, no, Ronon, stay, it's not like that," she laughed, "It's just that I've never heard it put that way…but when you think about it, I guess that's more accurate." She suppressed her laughter. "I would absolutely love to celebrate Valentine's Day with you. Um, what did you have in mind?"

"A romantic dinner at a classy restaurant," Ronon recited John's words.

"Oh, yeah? Where?"

Ronon hadn't exactly thought out that part yet. "It's a surprise."

Jennifer's face brightened. "Great, I love surprises!" She beamed.

Ronon couldn't help but beam back. Just a little. A very manly, tough, sexy, confident beam.

_Right_.

* * *

Ronon didn't have any real idea of how he did it, but on Valentine's Day, John showed up on his doorstep with a dry-cleaned suit, tie, and two dozen roses.

"I know you wanted to get her the flowers yourself, but you don't have time, and you'll want to have them when you pick her up," John told Ronon, passing the suit to him. "Everything's set. I made you reservations at a restaurant on Earth, fairly close the gate. There'll be a driver and everything."

"Thanks again for doing this. I really appreciate it," Ronon told him.

John shrugged. "I'm just a nice guy."

It's not that Ronon didn't want to make plans by himself. He wanted to. But he also wanted to make sure their date was perfect. He'd talked it over with Sheppard, and in his desire to take Jennifer somewhere special, he realized that there wasn't a whole lot he knew about Earth fine dining. So, he'd had John describe the different kinds of places he and Jennifer could go, what kind of things were appropriate to give her (hence the roses), etc. He wanted to make it perfect, and John was obviously knowledgeable in this sort of thing.

"How'd you know my size?" Ronon asked, eyeing the suit with interest.

"Your clothes from the funeral," John explained. "When we returned them, the tailor kept the measurements on file."

Within minutes, Ronon was looking dapper and spiffy in black slacks, crisp white shirt, and long black dinner jacket, and John was showing him how to tie a knot, using the tie around his own neck, before handing it to his friend.

Ronon copied his movements, only somehow managing to nearly strangle himself. He squirmed. "I don't like this."

"It looks nice," John said, patiently re-doing the tie and making a nice Windsor knot. "There ya go."

Ronon turned to look at himself in the mirror. "Not bad. I still don't like the tie."

"You have to wear the tie. It's a tie-and-jacket restaurant. Now, go get the girl."

John watched as Ronon walked into the hallway, then leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and feeling immensely satisfied with his handiwork. Rodney came up the curve Ronon had just rounded.

"Your magic touch?" McKay asked him.

John nodded smugly.

"Good job. He almost looks civilized."

John shrugged. "Everybody cleans up nice. Come on, Rodney. I even managed to get you a date."

* * *

Jennifer pulled the last hot curler from her crown, watching the springy curl fall and swing before her eyes, before lifting it up and carefully pinning into place in her bun. There. All done. She stood back and looked her reflection. For once in her life, she was truly pleased with how she looked.

She was the woman in the red dress. The _little_ dark red satin dress, complete with matching spike-heeled strappy red shoes she'd been saving forever but had no occasion to used them.

The door chimed, and Jennifer hurried to it to find Ronon standing there, roses in hand, jaw dropping to the floor. She grinned.

"You look so handsome! Not that you don't always look handsome. You just look…different…in earth clothes…" Jennifer cut herself off, stood on her tip-toes, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He smiled. "You look…"

She waited patiently.

"There's not a word for how good you look," Ronon finished. He presented the roses.

"Thank you! They're beautiful!"

"Welcome."

"Just let me go put these in water, and then we can go." Jennifer turned, rushed off to grab an Athosian urn she'd stowed under the cabinet when she'd first gotten the room, and placed the flowers in them. "Perfect." She grabbed a wrap and a tiny clutch, and they were off.

* * *

Usually on a trip to Earth, Ronon couldn't seem to get tired of looking out the windows. He liked to look at the other cars, the architecture of the buildings, people walking their dogs, the constellations if the stars happened to be out. But tonight, as they sat in the back seat of a town car, Jennifer's hand in his, Ronon couldn't will his eyes away from her. She was too beautiful, and several times he caught himself goofily smiling at her like a moron. But she would smile back, and then they were smiling together, and it was okay.

"Thank you for tonight," Jennifer told him.

He looked over at her, bemused. "But we haven't done anything yet."

"Oh, yes we have. You have no idea how much this means to me. This is the first Valentine's Day I've actually had a date on, and I got to wear a pretty dress and be out with a gorgeous guy…it's just all so perfect."

They made light conversation the rest of the way to the restaurant, mostly Jennifer explaining to him what things were, what they meant, the sayings on billboards. Nothing really important, but when the car pulled up to the restaurant, Jennifer stared out the window in awe.

"Wow, look how fancy it is," she stared up at the restaurant through the car window.

"Sheppard helped me pick it out," Ronon said modestly. "He told me Italian food was the best, so we settled on this place."

Ronon remembered his lessons from John, and got out of the car, shooed away the driver, and opened the door for Jennifer. She took the arm he offered and linked her arm through his, as they strolled through the front door.

"We have reservations," Ronon told the hostess. "Under Dex."

"Right this way, sir," she said, crossing his name off of the list.

The hostess led them to their table, covered in a white cloth and fine china. Tall white and red candles stood in silver candlesticks, illuminating the area with a soft glow.

"Your sever will be right with you," the hostess said, and handed the two their menus.

The menu was in Italian. Jennifer and Ronon stared at it blankly, then at each other.

* * *

When the waiter came to the table, he was surprised to find both seats empty, and the candlesticks missing.

"This is _much_ better," Jennifer said, munching happily on cheese bread from Papa John's. "Real Italian food."

Ronon laughed heartily, folded his pizza in half, and took a big bite, pausing to glance at her, all wrapped up in his coat, as they sat side-by-side Indian-style on the roof of the Garden of the Gods Visitor's Center. The sun had set over the hill behind them, but the glow was still evident on the tall red rocks in front of them. It was dark enough where they were sitting to enjoy the candlelight, and the view in front was definitely one of the most beautiful sights either of the two had ever seen.

Ronon finished eating first, and put his arm around her. When she was done, Jennifer snuggled into his shoulder and sighed.

He looked down. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all. Everything's perfect."

He pulled her just a little tighter against him. "You know," he began, watching as the last of the light disappeared from the top of the cliffs, pitching them into complete darkness, save the candlelight, "I really wish I had kissed you during the quarantine."

She looked up at him, questioning. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"I wish you would've kissed me, too."

He stared down at her for a moment, before leaning his face close to hers and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Ronon felt her lips smile against his, and used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, sucking on her lower lip before sliding his tongue gently across hers. She leaned into him as he sat back, drawing her onto his lap as they continued kissing, and he held her close against him, his hands sliding down her shoulders and down her dress to touch her bare legs at the hem of the red satin. She moaned and opened her eyes to look at him, fingers sliding under his shirt to feel his flat stomach beneath, when--

"Hey! Lovebirds! Get the hell outta here!"

Ronon broke away to look over the side of the building, only to see the night guard waving his flashlight at them.

Ronon rolled his eyes and looked at Jennifer. "You ready to go?"

Her lower lip stuck out in a pout. "I guess."

He grinned. "Come on. We can continue this later."

* * *

When they got back through the gate, John was waiting for them.

"Hey, you two. You guys have a good time?"

"The best," Jennifer smiled delightedly at him.

"How was the restaurant?"

"We had pizza," Ronon answered.

John blinked at him. "I send you to the best restaurant in Colorado Springs and you get _pizza_ there?"

"No, we got the pizza from Papa John's," Ronan replied.

John stared at him, unbelieving, then shrugged. "Fair enough."

The couple waved a friendly good-bye before walking off down the corridor, hand in hand.

John shook his head, chuckled, and wandered off.

* * *

"So, this is me," Jennifer said as they came upon her room.

Ronon nodded. "Yep."

He smiled down at her as she leaned against the door, looking up at him, before moving down to kiss her again. It was sweet and tender, just a gently sliding of the lips, and then he broke away.

"I guess this is good-night," he told her.

She pouted again. "I guess…"

"We'll do this again?"

She brightened. "I'd love to."

"Good. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day."

He gave her one more quick kiss, then moved away to head down the hall.

"Ronon?"

He turned so fast he almost lost his balance. "Yeah?"

"Um, do you want to maybe come in for some coffee?"

He grinned devilishly to himself, and hurried back, and she pulled him through the doorway, giggling.

THE END

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, and Singles Awareness Day, and happy birthday to Lara Croft.


End file.
